Automobile axle



1950 J. CASTLEBERRY 2,532,605

AUTOMOBILE AXLE Filed March 10, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Jack 60:f/e b e rry for/1g D 1950 J. CASTLEBERRY 2,532,605

AUTOMOBILE AXLE Filed March 10, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Jack64': f/eery Y 114, aw

I, far/7g Patented Dec. 5, 1950 LU'N'IT 151D OFFICE AUTOMOBILE-Jack:.Ga'stleberry, Jasper, Ala...

" Application"Marclilo, 1947;. Serial No. 7 33,53?

(chem-,1.)

's ('ilaims. 1

' M'y-present inventiorrrelatesto a liub and axle assembly and more'particularly to 'an assembly ofthe'character -describedembodying af'u1l floating axle of the type generailyemployed'with the drivingwheelsof automobiles or trucks.

In the art to which my inventiomrelates, it has heretofore beencustomary t= transmitrotational force of the axletothe hub through-themedium of studs or "bolts. Much difiicult'y hasbeen -experienced' bythis arrangement due to failure oithe studs by shearing after varying"periods-0f use. The failure of such" studs or bolts-generally occurs atthe point-of connection betweenthe hub and the axle'flange 'orothermembentransmittingfithe load? from the" axle, "and the removal of -thebroken ends left in the hub is both-arduous andtime consuming. 2 Whenfailure-i'of-- the studs occurs, itxoften happens that" other parts ofthe hub and axle" are damaged; "Further, 'aftenrelativelyshort periodsof use; the stud or bolt holes in the axle fiange'or' plate become outof round due to. wear'andthe 'eil'ective relative-distance apart of,the" several *hol'es inthe- =b0lt circle changes, thus causinga-di'sproportionateload to beimposedon less thanthetotainumber of studsor boltsprovided.- When new studs or'bolts'are installed, thiscondition'quiqkly causes=a-nother failure thereof, as some of-the studstake more than their proportionate-shareofthe load, thus resulting inoverloading .all of the studs.

It is accordingly the. prime obj'ectof my invention to provide a hubandaxle assembly inwhich rotational forces are transmitted betweenthelhub and. axle byv means'of' interlocking projections formed on theouter. face of the hub and the inner face of the axleflange or plate;connected to the axle. Another object is' to .provide a, hub and axleassembly in .Whichthe hub is provided with proj'ections '01" teeth inthe bore adjacent its outer face, and in which the'interl'ockingprojections ateclwith th outerendofi a housing tube.

which amayiform a :partofi .the usual, difiercntial housing of a truck.Mounted on the'housing tube II are outerzbearings I2. andinner-bearingsrlB, the outer; bearing beingheld in..place by.means 10fanut i5". Rotatablyun'iounted on the, outer races-14' of therbearingslzazand l3..is myim-proved hub :l.6.' ':'l he.=hub:-;,I5. is preferablyof cylindrical shape. and'isproyidedwith arboss H to which maybejsecuredthgcentral portion l8 of a wheel, and arbrake. drum:I9=,;.bolts 21 and nuts 22' being utilized toihold thezsame to the-bossl1.

HTh hub i6 is provided in its bore adjacentits outer. face 23 ,Withaqplurality of projections or teeth 24.. v:Asxshown in Figs. 2 and 3,the projections 2.4 projectinwardly of the hub, andbetween the. teethandthe-perimeter oi the hub are drilled and; tapped a-p1ura1ityof holes:26. Disposed within the tubular housing H is an axle 21 which maybe ofthe full floating type driven from the difierential in the. mannerwellunderstood. Adjacent its outer end 28, theaxle 21; is. provided withanintegrally formed flange 29 of a: diameter approximating the diameterof the hub 46. The flange'29 is provided with-radially disposed,projections 31 adapted to interlock Withthe-projecadaptedforassociationtherewithv and connected to the'axle are; disposed on the inner side ofa flange, integrally formed with the axlegadjacent the perimeterthereof.

A further'object' is to provide a, hub of the character describedewithwhich a plurality of different types of axles may be'usedj'the selectionof the :axle loeing dependentzxupon. the work" to: be" done tions 24formed on the hub. I5. It will be noted that the. projections 3.! aredisposed -on.the inner face of. the flange 25., adjacent. the peripherythereof.- ,Theflange 29 isprovided. with holes 32 through which passstuds 33, threaded-into the openings 25 formed in the hub, I6, thustohold the projections carried bythehub and flange in interlocked-relation. A gasket 30 is interposed betweentheflange 2.9 andthe..-fac.eofv th hub to preventescape 0i. lubricant, it being understood that.means,.notshown, are provided to seal .the opposite end of the.hub.against. loss of lubricant past the bearing l3.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 4; 5,

. and, 6, I show a mo.dified. .form of my imlention whichillustrates a.different. means for, connecting the. axle to thehuh 1.6..Inthismodification the axle 3.4 is provided. on.its.. outer. endwithsplines 35,;adapted .to interlock. with. complementary splines 3 6.formedv inlthe. central portion. of. a connecting plate 31. The plate3! is provided on its inner face 38 with projections 39 adapted tointerlock with the projections 24 formed on the hub 16. The plate 31also is provided with openings 4| for passing studs 42 which arethreaded into the openings 26 provided in the hub 16. A hollow head setscrew 45 is threaded through the central boss of the plate 31 and bearsagainst the splined end of the axle 34, thus to prevent endwise shiftingof the same. In this modification, it will be seen that the rotationalforces from the axle 34 are transmitted to the hub through the splines35 and 36 and the projections 24 and 39'.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7, an axle 46 is provided with anintegrally formed flange 41. The flange 4'! is provided on its peripherywith projections 48, disposed to interlock with the projections 24 onthe hub IS. A circular plate 49 is bolted to the face of the hub I 6 bymeans of studs passing through openings 52 in the plate and threadedinto the holes 26 in the hub I6. The gasket 30 is utilized to preventloss of lubricant.

In all of the modifications of my improved assembly shown herein, itwill be apparent that the, projections or splines or a combination ofthe two, transmit all of the load between the axles 27, 34 or 46 to thehub Hi. The studs 33, 42, and 5| serve merely to hold the partsassembled and take none of the load except in the event of failure inthe projections 24 and 3! or 24 and 39 in the modifications shown inFigs. 1 and 4. Likewise, it will be apparent that with the same hub l6,either of the axles 21 or 46 having the flange 29 or 41 formedintegrally therewith, or the splined axle 34 and plate 31' may beutilized. Thus, if a truck is equipped with my improved hub [6, an axlehaving the strength characteristics commensurate with the work to bedone may be installed, and if the truck is used on different jobs, axlesmay be readily changed to suit the conditions without changing hubs. inthe event of failure of the axles used in either of the modificationsshown, my improved driving connection in no way affects the ease withwhich the axle may be removed and replaced. Further, since the openingsbetween the projections 24 formed in the hub 16 stop short of the outerperimeter thereof, the outer end of the assembly is easil sealed againstloss of lubricant by means of the gasket 30.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised an improvedhub and axle assembly which is especially adapted for use with a fullfloating type of axle, and one in which the shearing of bolts isentirely eliminated. In ac- It is further to be noted that tualoperation I have found that a hub and axle be placed thereupon as arespecifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a hub and axle assembly for a driven wheel, teeth projectinginwardly of the bore of the hub, a flange on the outer end of the axledisposed to cover the outer end of the hub, projections on the innerface of the flange disposed to interlock with the teeth in the hub, agasket 4 interposed between the end of the hub and the flange, and studspassing through the flange and into the hub to hold the teeth ininterlocked relation.

2. In a hub and axle assembly for a driven wheel in which the hub isopen at its outer end, projections in the bore of hub adjacent the outerend thereof, a flange formed integrally with the axle and disposed tofit against the outer open end of the hub, projections on the face ofthe flange adjacent the outer end of the hub and disposed to engage theprojections carried in the bore of the hub, a gasket interposed betweenthe outer end of the hub and the flange, and studs passing through theflange and threaded into the end of the hub for holding the projectionsin interlocked relation.

3. In an assembly of the character described embodying a cylindrical huband a full floating axle, inwardly projecting teeth formed in the boreof the hub adjacent the outer end thereof, a flange formed integrallywith the axle and disposed with its inner face abutting the outer end ofthe hub, an annular gasket interposed between the outer end of the huband the flange, teeth formed on the side of the flange adjacent the huband disposed to project into the hub and interlock with the teeth in thebore of the hub, and studs passing through the flange and gasket intothe end of the hub and holding the flange and hub teeth in interlockedrelation.

4. In a hub and axle assembly embodying an axle of the full floatingtype, splineson the outer end of the axle, inwardly disposed projectionsin the bore of the hub adjacent the outer face thereof, a plate disposedto seal the outer end of the hub against the egress of lubricant fromthe hub and having projections thereon interlocked with the projectionsin the hub, there being a centrally disposed opening in said plateprovided with internally projecting splines adapted to interlock withthe splines on the end of the axle, and studs holding the plate inlubricant sealing relation against the outer face of the hub with theprojections carried by the hub and plate in interlocked relation.

5. In an assembly of the character described embodying a cylindricalbored hub and a full floating axle, a flange formed on the outer end ofthe axle and diposed to fit in the bore of the hub, projections formedon the periphery of the flange, projections formed in the bore of thehub and adapted to interlock with the projections on the periphery ofthe flange, a plate for covering the .end of the hub, a gasketinterposed between the plate and the hub, and studs passing through theplate and into the end of the hub for holding the parts assembled.

6. An assembly as defined in claim 5 in which said plate for coveringthe end of the hub is formed integrally with the flange and axle.

JACK CASTLEBERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,001,697 Sharp Aug. 29, 19111,272,565 Sullivan July 16, 1918 1,451,267 Masury Apr. 10, 19232,025,834 Tautz Dec. 31, 1935 2,052,524 Baker Aug. 25, 1936

